We Love Like It's Forever
by happyalvin
Summary: Amélie Baudelaire lived as good of a life as a 500 year old vampire could but one night everything changed after getting a late night call from an old friends of hers, Damon Salvatore. Soon enough Amélie finds herself in Mystic Falls and caught up in the supernatural workings of this small town and coming face to face with the last person she ever wanted to see again… Klaus.
1. Chapter 1

The sound of her phone going off was the last thing that Amélie Baudelaire – or as she preferred just Amélie unless you wanted your ass kicked – wanted to hear right now, but the damn thing was so loud and incessant that it woke up Amélie from her drunken slumber. Immediately Amélie turned over in bed as she had no interest in answering her phone as right now she was sleeping, which meant she was currently unavailable until she saw fit to get up out of bed, which wouldn't be for the next few hours. As far as Amélie recalled it had been pretty late when she had went to bed and to her going to bed meant to things; sex or sleep and she generally didn't like to be disturbed when doing either. As the phone continued to ring Amélie pulled her pillow from under her and placed it on top of her head in an attempt to block out the incessant noise as eventually the phone would have to stop ringing. People who knew Amélie, knew that she liked her sleep and being disturbed was not something she liked. Waking Amélie up was like prodding a grizzly bear, it was just not something you did unless you had a death wish. Amélie was content in ignoring her phone and letting it ring, however the occupant next to her bed wasn't having any of that and was persistently poking Amélie to get her attention.

"Babe… Your phone won't stop ringing."

Warren or William? Amélie couldn't honestly remember his name, all she knew was that he was very nice to look and had brought her several drinks tonight but regardless of that Amélie was going to hit him if he kept bothering her. Maybe even take a bit out of him to shut him up if he didn't stop.

"I-Ignore it, they'll get the message eventually…" Amélie tiredly murmured and moments later the phone stopped ringing to Amélie's relief and she removed the pillow from over her head and placed it back in it's rightful place. However much to her displeasure the phone started ringing again. Clearly whoever was calling her had a very severe death wish.

"Phone's ringing…"

Realising whoever was calling her wouldn't stop until they got their wish and spoke to her, Amélie ever so reluctantly turned over in bed and leaned over Warren or William, whatever his name was and without opening her eyes she felt for her phone on the bedside table. Once she had found it, Amélie placed it against her ear. "_What?_"

There was a familiar laugh at the end of the phone and Amelia immediately groaned. She should have known that _he_ was the only one stupid enough to call her whilst she was sleeping. Amélie was going to ring his neck the next time she saw him. "Ami, is that any way to great your best friend?"

_Ami. _Only two people in the entire world called her that anymore and one of them happened to be her evil bastard of a best friend.

"Damon Salvatore you aren't my best friend, you're just a pain in the ass which I tolerate because you have a nice face to look at despite your hideous personality and you had better have a good reason for calling me at…" Amélie began with a tired yawn as she looked over at her alarm clock and just seeing the time made her goran in dismay. "3:07 in the morning."

"I need your help."

Amélie scoffed, that was a good one. The charming and devilishly handsome Damon Salvatore needed her help? Did he think that she was stupid? Probably not as he knew to call her rather then bang on her front door at 3am. There was no way Damon needed her help, he just wanted something from her although she had no idea what it be except maybe scotch. "And why does that involve you waking me up at this godforsaken hour? You could have called me at more reasonable hour, you of all people know that I like my sleep."

"Fine you got me, I'm not calling about me. It's Stefan." Damon replied and Amélie got a bad feeling in her stomach as Damon mentioned his younger brother, as the Salvatore brothers didn't exactly get alone with each other. From what Amélie knew, they hadn't seen each other in fifteen years and thee was a good reason for that as half the time they fought like cats and dogs, coming close to killing each other on several occasions.

"Stefan? What's happened?" Amélie demanded as she sat up in bed, no longer feeling drunk or tired at the mention of Damon's brother who was a good friend of hers, they had met through Damon and she was rather fond of the younger Salvatore as he was a sweetheart. If Stefan was in trouble then she wanted to know about it.

"You know same old stuff, he's in love and back in Mystic Falls and he's off the wagon again." Damon said in a rather cheerful yet irritated manner. Stefan was perhaps the kindest vampire Amélie had ever met and it was hard to believe that he and Damon were related but his personality did not go well with the fact that he was a ripper and a pretty nasty work from what Amélie had seen. He struggled a lot with containing his thirst for human blood so much that Stefan tended to stick to animal blood, until he slipped and fell off the wagon. It had been a while since Stefan had fallen off the who but Amélia didn't understand why Damon was calling her of all people about this.

"Bloody hell… But why are you calling me? Lexi is the only who usually takes care of Stefan when he gets like this." Amélie questioned before the realisation sunk in, Lexi was an acquaintance of hers through Stefan and Lexi hated Damon with a burning passion. It probably explained why Damon was calling her about it. "You need me to call Lexi?"

"Lexi's dead. I killed her on Stefan's birthday, did I forget to tell you that?" Damon stated in such a casual manner and Amélie was pretty sure she could hear some amusement in his voice, like he was actually proud of himself. Amélie would have hung up there and then if it wasn't for the fact that Stefan was in trouble. Sometimes Amélie couldn't believe the stuff that Damon did and the fact that he had no sense of remorse about it all. Times like these made her wonder why the two of them were friends at all.

"I'm pretty sure I would have remembered you telling me something of that magnitude and I'm surprised that Stefan let you live after that. Even I wouldn't have let you lived if you pulled something like that with me Damon, but then again my brother has been dead for five hundred years so what do I know? But back to my original point, what do you want from me?"

"I need you to come to Mystic Falls and help me take care of Stefan–" Damon began.

"Hell no!" Amélie immediately blurted out, she wasn't sure whether or not she should be surprised that Damon had the nerve to ask her to come to his home town. But he should have know even before asking that she would say no to this. "You know I love Stefan to pieces but I don't do small towns as they are too quiet not to mention there's nothing to do in them. Vampires and small towns don't go well. I don't do well in them."

"Ami, Ami, Ami… You're going to want to come to this town, believe me. Not only will you be helping Stefan but you'll get to see me again and it's been a while since we last saw each other." Damon said, clearly attempting to turn on the charm in an attempt to convince the very stubborn french woman to do something, which she was adamant about not doing.

"Now I know I'm right in turning you down." Amélie quipped in amusement; she was no longer tired and she had to admit that she was rather enjoying herself. It reminded Amélie that her and Damon should really talk more often, the two of them used to have such fun in the good old days.

"Ami, would I ever steer you wrong?" Damon questioned and Amélie couldn't help but snicker down the phone. That was another good question, in all her five hundred and ninety five years as a vampire Amélie had never gotten in as much trouble until she had met Damon. Amélie wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.

"Certainly or does Paris 1975 ring a bell or Miami in 2001 sound familiar in the slightest? And those are just the ones I can recall off the top of my head from our most recent escapades… Damon I couldn't trust you as far as I could throw you." Amélie admitted with a small giggle.

"C'mon Ami it's not like you've got anything better to do."

Amélie looked over to where Warren or William was sleeping, for once Damon did have a point. She really didn't have anything better to do at the moment other than killing the human which she no longer did and now she was intrigued about this small town of his, so she'd entertain him and come to Mystic Falls until she got bored and decided to move on. "I'm leaving now."

"You bringing the champagne?"

"Why ask stupid questions? I'm french so of course I'm bringing champagne!" Amélie said insulted that Damon would ever think such a matter although she did stop in her step as she climbed out of bed. "You do have scotch, right?"

"Ami of course I have scotch, this is me we're talking about." Damon retorted in a shocked manner and Amélie had to admit that he had a point. The only thing Damon could ever be relied on for was his willingness to kill and always having scotch.

"À bientôt!" Amélie quipped before ending the call and chucking her phone back on the bed before looking around the room. First thing first; find the champagne, then pack all whilst deciding whether or not to use the human as a quick snack before she left. Sounded easy enough.

* * *

A few hours later Amélie had much to her distaste arrived in Mystic Falls and more specifically the Salvatore boarding house, she had been here a few times over the years with the Damon but even that didn't quell the sinking feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. Did a call for help with the promise of alcohol convince Amélie that small towns weren't so bad? No. But it would help, so taking a deep breath she walked into the boarding house and there was no surprise that it hadn't changed since she was last here; albeit that visit was fifty years ago. The place reminded her one of those stately homes that never changed, sort of like a live in museum but it had this quaint homely feel to it. As she walked into the living room Amélie found Damon sitting on a couch with a glass of scotch in his hand, looking the same as when Amélie had last seen him. Some things never changed.

"For a moment there I was starting to doubt that you were coming."

"And leave Stefan in your care? I think not, I had some dead weight to get rid of if you know what I mean." Amélie quipped with a small smile.

"I see you brought the good stuff." Damon stated motioning to the bottle of champagne in Amélie's hand.

"Naturally but we're saving this for later so until then where's the rest of your family? I've been looking forward to meeting the rest of the Salvatore's so bring on this nephew or a cousin that you've been hiding from me. I want to meet this last living relative of yours and offer him my condolences for being related to you." Amélie asked as she looked around.

"Killed him."

Amélie's eyebrow cocked up in amusement, she honestly wasn't that surprised to say the least, the Salvatore brothers did have a history of kill their relatives. They were like the male vampire version of Lizzie Borden. "You're still killing your relatives? I thought we had talked about that."

"We did but I couldn't help myself, Stefan went all judgement day on me, drugged me with vervain and locked me in the basement in hoped that my body would desecrate itself enough to turn into a living corpse. I was cranky, weak and not to mention I hadn't fed in days I couldn't help myself." Damon stated as he drained the rest of his glass before getting up of the couch.

"I suppose not, but then again Stefan must have locked you in the basement for a reason." Amélie replied pursing her lips together as watched Damon prepare two glasses of scotch and handed one over to her. "Must be mighty proud of yourself for ending your families line or are there any more children out of wedlock that can salvage the Salvatore family?"

"It was just the one, unlike you my family line hasn't managed to survive for over five hundred years." Damon replied as the two clinked their glass together.

"I suppose not anyway my family have nothing to do with this; I'm here to deal with your la famille problems not mine, so how Stefan doing?" Amélie questioned, moving things along. "And whilst we're talking about him, you can tell me how this happened because when I last spoke to Stefan a few months ago he was still feeding on bunnies."

"Yeah… I may have finally gotten round to opening the tomb, turns out Katherine was never in there but the other tomb vampires got out and they were pissed to put it lightly. Kidnapped and tortured Stefan and naturally I went to save him but they did a number on his so he girlfriend fed him her blood and that set everything off." Damon casually said and Amélie rolled her eyes as none of this seemed to faze Damon at all but she knew better than to take what he said at face value. Damon had been hung up on Katherine for as long as she had known him, so her not being in the tomb must of stung.

"I see you've been very busy recently Damon, anything else that you've neglected to mention and that I need to know?" Amélie questioned and she watched as Damon took a baited breath.

"I'm on the founders council, they all love me and you can't kill anyone whilst you're here. There's a witch whose not my biggest fan at the moment after a small misunderstanding and if you hurt someone and she finds out about you then she'll kill you."

"That's good to know, I'll keep that in mind although truth be told I'm not surprised that you've pissed off another witch as that one in Wyoming wanted your head on a stick if I remember correctly."

"Ah… yes, dear old Joanna I rather liked her once you got past freakishly weird mole on her face " Damon said before visibly blanching as he recalled the memory of one of the many antics he and Amélie got up during the sixties.

"Damon, I'm going downstairs to check on Stefan, Oh… I didn't realise that you had company." A teenage girl with almond skin, brown hair and eyes said as she made her way into the parlour. Amélie had seen a picture of her before, the infamous Katherine Pierce and like everyone else she had assumed that Katherine was locked in that tomb but according to Damon not anymore although it did seem like he left some important details out.

Amélie cocked her head so she could look at Damon. "Anything else you've forgotten to tell me? And this time don't miss anything out Salvatore."

"Did I neglect to mention that Stefan's girlfriend is the exact double of Katherine's and possibly her descendent?" Damon slowly began.

"Yeah, you kind of did." Amélie slowly replied as she looked the teenager girl over, clearly something was going on here and Dr. Phil would have a field day if he came across any of this. Amélie was pretty sure this was what Damon meant when he said she'd want to come to Mystic Falls and now she no longer regretted coming. This was going to be interesting to say the least.

"Elena Gilbert this is Amélie Baudelaire the old friend of mine I told you about whose come to help out with our little Stefan problem and Ami this is Elena Gilbert, Stefan's girlfriend the one who I mentioned in passing." Damon said making introductions.

"It's nice to meet you Amélie, you're the nun right?" Elena questioned, although the second part she said more wearily as it was clear she was taking Amélie's appearance. The blazer, crumpled aerosmith t-shirt, jeans and heels were probably not giving off the best first impression especially when being mistaken for a nun.

"Typical Damon… I can't believe he told you I was a nun, well then again I'm not to surprised as this is Damon we're talking about and he's kind of obsessed with it seeing as I was disguised as a nun the first time we met in 1938. But in all serious I'm not a nun, the closet thing I get to being religious is when I go to church to eavesdrop on confession." Amélie said with a wicked smile. "Can't blame him thought, I rocked his world and have been ever since."

Damon scoffed. "You wish."

"Why would I? We both know it's the truth, some of us are just in denial over this little fact." Amélie teased.

"A-are you two involved?" Elena questioned and both Damon and Amélie looked at her before bursting out laughing in amusement.

"No, we used to sleep together on and off over the years but it was just causal… he's still in love with Katherine and I got bored of him rather quickly but I decided to keep him on as a friend despite the fact he's still a baby vampire." Amélie admitted and Damon just rolled his eyes. "But that's not important, all that matter's is that I'm here now and I'm going to fix everything so take me to Monsieur Stefan, I have missed him so very much…"


	2. Chapter 2

There was a part of Amélie that thought that Damon was joking when he said that Stefan was locked up in the basement for everyone's safety while they tried to detox him off human blood. But Damon was being serious for once in his life and now Amélie stood in the basement of the boarding house with Damon and Elena stood in the basement of the Salvatore boarding house. Taking a couple of steps forward Amélie looked through the bars on the door and into Stefan's cell. It wasn't the nicest place in the world but it would do for now and as Amélie looked into the cell she noticed Stefan in the corner and judging by his breathing pattern it appeared that he was sleeping but he sleep seemed very disturbed as he was thrashing about, probably down to the whole going cold turkey off human blood thing. No doubt this whole ordeal was very unpleasant for him, which made Amélie glad that Damon had the sense to call her in instead of tackling this himself. Stefan needed a strong and firm, yet gentle hand when it came to dealing with his little problem and Damon wasn't exactly the best person to help him in this situation, not to mention he was the least sympathetic.

"Open the door, I'm not talking to him through these bars like he's some kind of animal. I want to be able to sit with Stefan when I talk to him…" Amélie instructed as just because Stefan happened to be a ripper, it didn't mean that he had to be treated with any less respect.

"Amélie, I don't think that's a good idea given the whole 'withdrawal' Stefan may be pretty volatile, so it's probably if you stay out here." Elena explained and Amélie allowed her self to laugh at this, it was nice that Elena was worrying about her safety but there was no need. Stefan wouldn't hurt her.

"What's he going to do? Jump me? I appreciate the concern Elena but I am five hundred and eighty two years old whilst Stefan is one hundred and sixty two. I have just over four hundred years on him and with age comes strength when it comes to being a vampire. Even with all that human blood Stefan has been drinking, I'll be perfectly fine. But thank you nonetheless." Amélie said in a warm manner before turning to Damon and motioning for him to open the door to the cell. "Damon open the goddamn door otherwise I'll do it myself, please…"

With a bemused roll of his eyes Damon ignored the look of disapproval from Elena and opened the cell door as he did, Stefan started to stir. "As you wish Ami…"

"I need you to leave now and Damon and do I need to explain to you yet again that when I say this I mean you needed to be far away from this house? I want you out of eavesdropping range so why don't you go get me something to eat, perhaps something greasy. I must have had something funny last night…" Amélie quipped.

"You owe me for this Ami." Damon began and Amélie couldn't help but laugh as she pushed a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"Me? I owe you for this? That's funny Damon as you're the one who called me and asked me to come all this way to help Stefan. Not to mention you owe me for plenty of other things that I have done for you over the years but nice try Damon. Now au revoir… " Amélie said with a bright smile shooing away Damon and Elena away, once the two of them had left Amélie stood in the spot where she standing for a few minutes before proceeding to walk into the cell and look at Stefan's sleeping form. "You can stop pretending to be asleep anymore, as we both know that your very much awake Stefan Salavtore. Don't worry, Damon and Elena are very much gone now."

Slowly Stefan sat from the small bed in the cell and looked at Amélie with tired eyes, in the however many years that Amélie had known him she had never seen Stefan look so much older than his years. This was not a man who was a 162 but in the body of a seventeen year old body. His green eyes looked weary and all too familiar to her and just looking into them made Amélie's heart ache. Stefan was such a good person and he didn't deserves have to be struggling with something like this everyday. "Hello Ami…"

"Bonjour Stefan, it's been a while hasn't it old friend? I guess I'm to blame for that given how unpredictable I tend to be but never mind that's in the past. As ever it is very good to see you mon ami " Amélie quipped from the doorway.

"You didn't just stop by for a visit, did you? I know you hate small towns with every fibre of that french passion of yours so what did Damon say to you Ami to get you to come back to Mystic Falls?" Stefan questioned and Amélie offered him a small smile as she walked in further to the cell and proceeded to sit down next to Stefan. Despite the door to the cell was left open, there was no way Stefan was getting out of here as he would have to get past her and that wasn't happening anytime soon.

"You are correct Stefan, I do very much hate small towns and I did not just drop by unexpectedly. Damon called me in the very early hours of this morning and he told me what happened and asked if I would come down and several hours later here I am. My bags are upstairs, your brother has updated me with most of what has been going on in this freaky little town of yours and I've stored away my champagne for a later day. But right now I am all yours Stefan, so stat talking." Amélie prompted with a small nudge, giving Stefan a reassuring smile as she needed Stefan to know that it was okay and that she wasn't here to judge him.

"There's nothing to explain Ami, you know that I lost control again and I almost killed someone. An innocent girl who did noting wrong but being at the wrong place at the wrong time. I have been fighting this for so long but it's not working, I'm becoming the thing that I feared worse; the true monster inside of me."

Amélie sighed, this was typical Stefan behaviour as whilst Damon had no sense of real remorse most of the time his brother on the other hand did. Stefan was always plagued by the things he had done ever since he had become a vampire. It often made him think the worst of himself. "Your not a monster Stefan, that's just the guilt talking."

"Really? Then what about what happened in Mexico? Before we even met Ami, you knew me by my reputation, by that I had done in Monterrey. How can you seriously tell me that I'm not a monster after what I did there? What I did everywhere else before Lexi came and found me and fixed me again and again." Stefan questioned and for a moment Amélie didn't know what to say as Stefan was right. Few vampires knew of Stefan by name but rather by legacy or his vast killings back in the early 20th century. His darkest days as Amélie liked to refer to that time period in his life as.

"Is that what you want me to say Stefan? That you're a hideous monster who only causes destruction wherever he goes? That he deserves to be looked away in a cell like this because he can't be controlled? I could say that to you but what difference would it make for me to say that when I know it's not true. Yes you have done some bad things and yes I did know of the infamous ripper of Monterrey but back then I didn't know the man behind it at the time, however I do now. They may share the same body but they are very two different people." Amélie told Stefan in a firm manner before taking a moment to pause before continuing. "There's light and darkness in all of us Stefan and we can be swayed to either side but we can make the final choice and we can fight for that choice. Getting you back on the 'wagon' as we call it may not be easy but they said third time's the charm."

"No."

Amélie laughed as she hadn't been expecting to hear that. "No? Would you care to explain?"

"There's nothing anyone can do Ami, no matter how hard I try I can't control it and then I do something like this, I'm a bad person and people die around me at my hand… "

"Stefan you may have done some terrible things in your time and no one is denying that but that does not make you a bad person? No it doesn't. It makes you human or as human as vampires get. Everyone does something terrible at one point in their life. No on is perfect… Take me for example, I killed my husband's mistress by draining every single drop of blood from her body, then proceeding to cut her heart out and leave it on my husband's desk."

"You've told me this before Ami…" Stefan said and Amélie patted Stefan's leg, she had told this story to Stefan many times before but he needed to hear it again. Stefan needed to be reminded that it was okay to make a mistake at times and regret it but not let it dictate your life. You had to learn from them and move on, no matter how much things hurt.

"I know I have and it was a terrible thing for me to do because that woman Eva, could have been there for my family and filled the whole in their heart from my 'death' but I killed her because I was angry about the fact my husband had been cheating on me. It is one of the worst things I have ever done and since then I haven't exactly been a saint… Anyway my point is that will all do bad stuff, some more than others but what makes you different from most Stefan is that you care. Despite being a ripper, you care and show so much remorse for what you have done that stops you being a monster. You have a heart, the sweetest and most gentle heart I know and there is no way you could be a monster with a heart like that. I will admit that I couldn't believe that you were the ripper of Monterrey when I first met you because, you were the kindest man that I have ever come across in all my years. That is the man I know you to be Stefan Salvatore. You are not a monster, you will never be a monster to me."

"Ami–" Stefan began.

"Try again. Fail again. Fail better." Amélie interrupted.

"Your quoting Samuel Beckett to me?" Stefan wearily laughed, Amélie nodded and gave Stefan a bright smile as it was nice to see some sort of positive emotion on him.

"It seems rather appropriate in our situation, but my point is Stefan you never stop trying to control your blood thirst. Yes you fell of the wagon but you haven't fallen as hard as you have before. You're getting there Stefan, slowly but surely and if it takes another thirty years of you falling on and off the wagon for you to kick it completely then so be it, I'll stay with you for as long as it takes. I'll be here for you as long as it takes." Amélie assured Stefan as she felt that it was important for Stefan to know that he wasn't alone. Whilst Amélie wasn't a ripper, she had some experience with them and she cared about Stefan, she could see that this was tearing him up and she wanted to help him. Since her immediate family had passed away a long time ago, Stefan and Damon were the closest thing she had to family.

"Ami… I know you and I know that you don't like staying in the same place for too long, especially small towns. In fact you've made it a rule never to stay in the same place for more than five years and move on you don't come back for at least another sixty years." Stefan stated and Amélie bit her lip as that was very much true.

"But this time I have a real reason to stay."


	3. Chapter 3

Amélie didn't realize how much she had missed her friends until she was sitting in that cell with Stefan talking about everything that had happened, like Lexi's death and the whole Katherine tomb issue. It made Amélie glad that Damon had called her when he did as it seemed like he hadn't called her a moment too soon. After talking with Stefan for a further forty, Amélie decided it was time to give him some space so she left the basement and with a heavy heart she shut him back into his cell. For now this was the safest place for Stefan to be, until the worst part of him going cold turkey was over. It wasn't going to be pretty but if it helped Stefan then it would be worth it. Now Amélie was sitting in the living room of the boarding house cradling a large glass of scotch, she honestly couldn't remember whether this was her forth or fifth one of the day. There's was just something about being around Damon for a certain amount of time that led her to the bottle. The two of them drank alcohol like it was water and Amélie was pretty sure that they came as close to alcoholics as two vampires could get. It was one of the few upsides of her staying in Mystic Falls, not only would she get to spend time with her two favourite brothers but Damon was never short of alcohol.

"How's Stefan doing?" Amélie asked not glancing up from her glass as she heard footsteps heading towards the living room after coming up from the basement. They were too heavy to be Damon's so that only left Elena. The glaring double for Katherine which was in itself quite a mystery and another reason that Amélie felt inclined to hang around for a while longer. Whilst she had never had the pleasure of meeting in the infamous Katherine Pierce, Amélie had head a lot about her and the fact that she had a double in Elena Gilbert who was dating her former lover very much intrigued Amélie.

"I don't know, I know that this is really tough on Stefan and he's struggling with it and that's about it. I have no real idea of what he's going through, I can only really imagine…" Elena said with a sigh and Amélie smiled, it was nice that Elena was worrying about Stefan and wasn't naïve about this whole thing and admitted that she had no idea what Stefan was going through.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much Elena as Stefan has gone through this a couple of times and trust me, whilst it doesn't seem like it at the moment. It does gets easier each time he gets back on the wagon. Now you should have a reasonable amount of worry when it comes to that blood thirst of his but it's the crippling guilt that you've really got to watch out for with Stefan." Amélie stated before taking a sip of her drink.

"The guilt?" Elena questioned as made her way over and joined Amélie on the coach she was sitting on and Amélie nodded her head, she figured she was going to have to give Elena the 101 on guilt as a vampire.

"Here's the deal Elena, when a person becomes a vampire our emotions along with everything else become heightened. Love, happiness and joy becomes 10x more intensified then it was before back when we were humans as becoming a vampire allows you to live more intensely. Our emotions are basically at their peak regardless of how old we are when we transitioned. But the good comes with the bad, such as anger, depression, sadness are all amplified along with guilt which can be pretty bad. Which is why a lot of vampires turn off their emotions, it makes it a lot easier to live without fear and remorse over some of our actions. But back to the guilt thing Elena, for someone like Stefan who had such a strong moral compass before he transitioned, the guilt over his actions when he's back on 'the wagon' is pretty much self destructive. It's like grief in a manner of speaking, it can completely overwhelm you and never really go away." Amélie explained.

"You sound like you know what Stefan is going through from experience Amélie." Elena noted and Amélie let out a soft laugh.

"Sort of. Only once during my five hundred and thirty nine years of being a vampire have I turned off my emotions. I don't tend to do it because turning off our emotions just makes us as dead as our bodies are. I live with the good and the bad of being a vampire and despite how intense our emotions can be, it reminds me that I am alive when I should be dead. Stefan has to find some way with living with the guilt because if this is what he's like at a hundred and forty five years of a vampire, then he won't make it to my age… I've done some terrible things in my time but I have one thing that keeps me sane."

"And what is that?"

"Love. It's the most important thing a person could have in their life, there are some vampire who believe that love is the weakest thing that our kind can feel. But not me, I will always believe in love." Amélie said as she slid off the silver bracelet that always sat on her left wrist. They were commonly known as mother bracelets and Amélie wore one, which looked like they were three individual bracelets but were in fact only one which had been linked together. Looking at the bracelet for a moment Amélie handed it over to Elena. "Not to mention this, it will always give me the strength to go on no matter bad I sometimes feel."

Elena took the bracelet and carefully looked it over. "Are these the people you've killed?"

"No, I've killed more than people than that I'm afraid. The three names on this bracelet are so much more memorable to me, they are the names of my children and I wear this bracelet to remind me of them. Although there's no way on earth I'd ever forget them, no matter how much time has passed…" Amélie wistfully commented.

"Amélie you had children?" Elena asked and watched as Amélie's eyes softened before she nodded with a wide grin on her face.

"Yes I did, I had three wonderful children who were everything to me and more, without a doubt they were the centre of my entire world and they still are if you can imagine that. I had two wonderful sons; Leopold and Emile and then a darling daughter; Odette. Each one of them as beautiful and lovely as the next, they were my greatest achievements. If I were die tomorrow then I would die happy as the best thing that ever happened to me was becoming a mother. Nothing has ever brought me such greater joy… "

"B-but you're so young…" Elena stammered in shock over the recent news and Amélie couldn't help but laugh, it was hard to believe that she was or had indeed been a mother given the things she had gotten up to in her life. But then again she was young and had been around for over half a millennium although she did like your everyday twenty three year old

"It was the fifteenth century Elena, things were very different then to how they are now. I was married just after I turned sixteen and I fell pregnant about a month later. Leopold was born two months before I turned seventeen, then I was nineteen when I gave birth to Emile and twenty when Odette finally arrived."

"Wow… that is just amazing, what were they like?" Elena asked and Amélie beamed, there was nothing more that she loved then taking about her children who were without a doubt the three loves of her life.

"My eldest Leopold was a lot like me in a manner of speaking, always so sure of himself and ready for anything just radiating in happiness and confidence. He had these adorable dark blonde curls and these intense hazel eyes. Then Emile took more after his father than he did me, with his brown hair and strong features but he did have my hazel eyes, all my children had my eyes and I used to joke that because of that they saw the world through my eyes. My little one was so sweet and gentle, but so funny with a laugh that was infectious and then there was my sweet Odette, she was the most beautiful little girl I had ever seen with her blonde hair and such soft yet gentle eyes. Odette was so shy yet as curious as a kitten, always wanting to play with her brothers. They were all wonderful and it was easy to love them but then again I was their mother." Amélie stated with a small chuckle, talking about her children so freely reminded her of how much she missed them.

"But you became a vampire–" Elena slowly began as her eyes widened in horror, as she realized what had inevitably happened.

"And left my children, yes I know. It was not something that I chose, it just happened to me one night and I've been pretty much like this since. My children were so young when this happened, too young to ever really understand losing their mother. I was twenty three when it happened and Leopold was six, Emile was four and Odette was just three."

"It must have killed you to have to leave them." Elena noted and Amélie grimly nodded.

"Hence the guilt I carry around with me everyday, I have killed people and I won't deny that but the worst thing I have ever done in my life is abandon my children. But I had to do it Elena. I could not be around them because of what I was, it was too dangerous for them so I had to leave. I had to let them go in order to live a life without me, a safe and happy life… The life I always wanted for them even if I couldn't be there and hug them and tell them how much I loved them and be a part of their lives like I should have been I left them knowing that they were in good hands. It broke my heart to do so, however I kept a far eye on them and so I got see them grow up for the most part, so the guilt about me doesn't cripple me like it used. But then losing them almost destroyed me, it was that one time in my life that I turned my emotions off as they all died within eighteen months of each other. They had all lived happy and long lives but they were still my children so I turned my emotions off for about ten years." Amélie revealed.

"Amélie…"

"I don't know how because they were very young when I died but my children seemed to remember me. I think my husband Lucien told them all about me despite everything that happened between us, wanting them to grow up kning about their mother and knowing that she loved the. My daughter Odette named her youngest daughter after me and my great granddaughter by Leopold was named after me." Amélie noted with a heartfelt sigh.

"Your husband? What happened between you and him?" Elena questioned.

"Oh… Lucien? Well that is interesting because as much of a good father as he was, it was a shame I couldn't same the same about being a husband. Don't get me wrong he never hurt me physically but he started an affair the last few months of my life and I found out about it whilst I was transitioning. Given everything and my heightened emotions, I was so mad about it that I hunted down his mistress and drank her blood dry to complete my transition and then I ripped her heart out and left it on my husband's desk… No sense in killing him as my children had just lost their mother, they needed their father and I would not deny my children that. If I could not be with them, then they would at least have one parent with them." Amélie wirily commented as she downed the contents of her drink.

"Wow, that must have been–"

"Bloody, yes… But that wasn't my point." Amélie interrupted as Elena had back the braclets and Amélie slipped them back on to her left wrist there they belonges. "My point was that having someone or something to love helps lessen the pain of the guilt. I have the memory of my children and their children and so on to sustain me but Stefan needs you and dare I say it Damon. The two people whom he loves most in this world and whom he would do anything for. You love him a fraction of what he feels for you and I assure you he'll be fine."

"How do you know that Amélie?" Elena questioned and Amélie quietly chuckled herself, humans were so naïve and cute especially when they were confused.

"Elena, you'll come to find out that I'm always right, even when I'm wrong I'm right."


	4. Chapter 4

Amélie idly walked around Mystic Falls in order to reacquaint herself with the place as she was going to be here for a while as she promised to get Stefan back on the wagon and she actually kept her promises. The last time Amélie had been in Mystic Falls, it had been about fifty years ago and the town had changed a bit down and so she wanted to familiarize herself with her new home for the foreseeable future. Amélie wasn't sure how long it was going to take for her to help Stefan get back on track with dealing his bloodlust given that she was dealing with the infamous ripper of Monterrey but Amélie was going to give up on Stefan. If she had to build a strap for Stefan to stay firmly on the wagon then so be it as Amélie knew that there was more to Stefan than his insatiable lust and lack of control when it came to human blood. With Lexi gone, no thanks to Damon and his lack of empathy for others at time Amélie had taken it upon herself to be the one to deal with Stefan when it came to this kind of stuff. As Amélie crossed the street and headed over to the town square, she watched everyone around her go around their own business seemingly unaware of the supernatural presences that were living in this town. Ignorance was pretty much bliss in this town. As Amélie continued to walk around the town that hadn't really changed too much in the last fifty years she was surprised when an African American girl approached her with a very pissed off look on her face.

"Excuse me…" Amélie said as she attempted to make her way past the girl but this didn't work as the girl grabbed Amélie's wrist and forced her to turn back.

"I know what you are."

Amélie sighed, this was going to be rather annoying not to mention that they were in public surrounded by people which meant that she couldn't kill the girl. That is if Amélie still killed people, but she could be motivated to kill again especially when annoying teenage girls approached her with the intent of making a scene. Even though Amélie didn't know this girl, she had a pretty good idea of who this girl was. "You must be the witch I've been hearing all about, Bonnie right?"

"And your Damon's little friend." Bonnie retorted, confirming Amélie's suspicions with the snotty and entitled manner in which she had replied to Amélie's question. Amélie was used to being greeted with contempt by witches as most tended to hate vampires and look at them like they were the scum of the earth. Amélie found the whole thing pretty ironic as she knew for a fact that it was a witch who had created vampires in the first place. But witches weren't witches without their egos and high moral ground which Amélie found to be annoying hence why she didn't spend much time around witches

"Firstly I'm not exactly little as I stand about four and a half inches taller than you so that makes your statement rather redundant and I'd watch your tone with me Little Miss Witch because you really should be treating your elders with so much more respect than what I'm receiving." Amélie quipped in a polite manner.

"You're a vampire, you don't deserve any respect!" Bonnie sneered.

"Wow… Damon must have done a real number on you for you to be so ornery." Amélie noted with a quiet laugh, she was going to have a little talk with her best friend about this whole thing, not to mention remind him that if he kept pissing of witches it was going to get him killed for good someday. The last time the two of them had any dealings with a witch the two of them had almost been killed and the witch herself had been threatening to cut out their hearts and sacrifice it on some alter of doom if she ever caught sight of the two of them again. Amélie had to admit that you had to take a pinch of salt when dealing with witches and more often than not it was quite amusing, especially now watching the little witch in front of her get her knickers in a twist.

"If you leave Mystic Falls now without hurting anyone I'll let you live." Bonnie threatened and Amélie couldn't help but roll her eyes. The little witch was threatening her of all people? The five hundred and sixty two year old vampire, that was hilarious. From what Amélie knew, Bonnie had just started to come into her craft, which meant she was in no real position to take her on.

"No can do I'm afraid. I've just arrived in this quaint little town of yours and as much as I'm not the biggest fan I have business to attend to here and I'm not leaving until I'm finished it. You don't scare me Bonnie, witch or no witch and I'm not going to leave just because you don't want me here. I'm going to be here for a while so your going to have to deal with it because I am not going anywhere anytime soon." Amélie replied with a small smirk.

"Don't think I won't make you." Bonnie warned and Amélie snorted in a rather unlady like manner, this was going to be fun and for once she was actually being sarcastic. This thing with Bonnie was getting extremely old and rather dull now, Amélie had already made it clear that she wasn't afraid of Bonnie and there was nothing she could do that would make her leave but the witch still wasn't giving up. It would be admirable if it wasn't so damn annoying.

"Bring it on! Go for it Bonnie… But just so you know I'm calling your bluff but please g ahead and try witch. I dare you to try and take down the big bad vampire right here and right now." Amélie challenged motioning to Bonnie with her hands to let her take her best shot. Bonnie narrowed her eyes at Amélie and was shocked when nothing happened and Amélie just stood there with a bored look on her face and actually had the nerve to yawn. Amélie had been certain that nothing would off happened which is why she had egged Bonnie on to attempt to try her little brain trick on her despite knowing that it would fail.

"I-I don't…" Bonnie began.

"I admire you for having the sheer nerve to attempt that in public when you could have very easily have exposed us both if that work. Although that was also very stupid at the same time because Mystic Falls has a history with vampires and witches. But the vampires were never killed whereas I understand that witches were killed here in Mystic Falls. If you had exposed me, you would have exposed yourself and pretty much sentenced yourself to an early grave or being poked and prodded at a government facility. I could kill you right on this spot for attempting that little trick but I don't kill people anymore, instead I'm going to give you a little advice. That aneurysm trick of yours may work on younger vampires such as the Salvatore boys but not on really old timers such as myself." Amélie stated with a smug smirk.

"You harm anyone here, drink anyone's blood and I will end you." Bonnie threatened and Amélie rolled her eyes, the threats were getting really old now.

"Aww… That's so sweet and totally unneeded because whilst I drink human blood I don't drink it from humans but thank you for the warning Bonnie. I'll keep that in mind in case I ever decided to reevaluate my dietary needs and if I Do, you will be the first person who I tell." Amélie stated before walking away from Bonnie and abandoning the rest of rediscovery of Mystic Falls in order to go back to the boarding house to have a little chat with Damon as her encounter with the teenaged witch had rather irritated her. Whilst Amélie had been informed that there was witch in town, she hadn't been expected to deal with Bonnie in the way that she done. Amélie wasn't here to cause havoc and turn the town upside down, she was here to help Stefan. When Amélie arrived back both Elena and Damon were both in the sitting room and seemed surprised to see her.

"That was quick Ami, even for you." Damon joked and Amélie swept her hand in a dismissive manner.

"We have a problem!" Amélie declared ignoring Damon's previous statement as she really wasn't in the mood to be making jokes or entertaining her best friend as she sat herself down on the couch in a dramatic manner which caused Damon to frown.

"Okay what is it?"

"I'm not talking to you Damon, I'm talking to Elena so shut up and go make me a drink. I'm feeling rather tense right now and in need of a rather stiff drink and whilst your at it, you had better make it a double as it has been one of those said…" Amélie snapped in an irritated manner.

"What's the problem Amélie?" Elena slowly asked wearily. Amélie stopped

"Look Elena, I'm all nice and zen most of the time as I have a lot of patience and it takes quite a bit to push my buttons. I like to be calm and practical instead of being a raging vampire bitch who liked killing people. I'm doing a massive favour here by coming all this way to fix Stefan and help him curb his little human blood problem, so I don't appreciate being threatened by some little witch who thinks she can tell me whether or not I can be here, let alone try and think she can threaten me of all people. Elena you had get that friend of yours to fall in line as I swear to god if your witchy friend tries any of her crap on me again then I will raise bloody hell to this town and show you what a five hundred and eighty two year old vampire can really do and a word of advice? You really want to avoid that…"

"You told Bonnie about Ami being here?" Damon asked Elena as he handed Amélie a double scotch.

"She's my best friend Damon!" Elena reasoned and Amélie loudly sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose before taking a sip of her drink.

"Which is where we have the problem Elena, I told you not to say anything to anyone about Ami being here. No one is supposed to know that she is here except for the three of us and Stefan."

"Why? I-I don't understand?" Elena questioned.

Amélie sighed, what was it with teenagers in this century? They were getting increasingly more stupid and naïve. "Elena it's quite simple. It is important for vampires to live in anonymity because is constantly changing. It's not like it was back when I was changed, I have seen the world change through my own eyes and in the last hundred years the world has drastically advanced in the world of technology and having an identity. You have cctv, passports, social security and most importantly cameras and that stuff isn't exactly things that vampires can have. They have dates on it, you need proof of birth and we're the living dead so we need fly under the radar. I like living in anonymity as it's how myself and vampires have continued to survive for all this time. The last thing I need or wanted was to be walking around with a target on my back because of some pissy little teenage witch who has a grudge. I've done nothing wrong but that witch of your is looking at me like I turned her mother into a vampire.

"What happened?" Elena questioned.

"Like most witches, she was on her high horse about how she knows what I am and how I was Damon's friend and that if I didn't leave town she'd make me and then when she did her little magic pain infliction trick and it didn't work. She kind of got the message that I wasn't leaving town anytime soon she chose to threaten me said if I fed off anyone she'd kill me. I'd like to see her try…" Amélie scoffed in an irritated manner as she finished the rest of her drink.

"Hmm… that's Bonnie." Damon noted.

"I'm here doing you a favor and I'd rather not be constantly watching my back because some over zealous teenage witch thinks she can take me on. So something needs to be done about it or I will actually kill her." Amélie nodded.

"I'll go talk to her and make her understand." Elena said as she excused herself and left the boarding house, leaving Amélie and Damon to talk further.

"She tried the head thing in public?" Damon questioned slowly.

"Yeah she threatened me with it and I took a gamble, I called the teen witch out on her bluff and she actually did it! Thankfully she's not as developed in her powers yet otherwise I would have been in real trouble but she will be in time." Amélie said with a shake of her head.

Damon nodded his head. "I know. It's rather annoying…

"Something needs to bed one about this Damon as the last thing I need is another pissed off witch wanting my head on a stick because of you…"


	5. Chapter 5

With a spring in her step and a glass of scotch in one hand Amélie made her way down to the basement as she figured that it was time for another one of her lessons with Stefan. Although Amélie had decided to make this one different from her usual sessions with Stefan in his cell. The small and dimly lit cell did nothing for them both and Stefan could only stay in there for so long before he had to come out especially when it was such a beautiful day outside, it was too glorious for either of them to be cooped up inside for the entire say so Amélie was going to change it as it would do Stefan a world of good to finally get out of that cell. To stretch his legs and attempt to get back on the saddle and move on with his life as he wouldn't fix his little human blood addiction by being in this cell for the rest of his eternal damnation. There was only so long that he could try and hide away from his problem. So Amélie decided to get a move on with things and with a bright smile, she opened the door to Stefan's cell in a rather dramatic and joyous manner, which clearly surprised Stefan.

"Your rather cheerful this morning Ami…" Stefan began.

"Why of course I am! It is a beautiful day, I am stuck in an incredibly young body despite my horrendously old age but I have the company of two of my favourite boys and I have scotch so what's there not to be happy about? Now come along mon petit we are going on a little outing today because you deserve to get some fresh air and feel the heat of the sun on your skin." Amélie replied with a bright smile.

"Ami, I don't think that's a good idea…"

"Look Stefan you're a ripper who has a bit of a problem containing himself when it comes to feeding on human blood and you've fallen off the wagon. Now we've weaned you off the human blood but you need to get outside of your cells. Your problem isn't going to go away just because you don't want to leave the safety of your cell as it may be a bad idea. Me drinking about three bottle of scotch with Damon last night was a bad idea but I still did it… That's irrelevant but what I'm trying to say is that you can't hide from your problems, you can't try and deal with this addiction if your isolate yourself from the outside world. It won't change anything. The only way we can try and deal with this is if you try and make your way back so you can be around humans, you need to attempt to be around them without drinking them dry." Amélie explained in a firm but rather gentle manner as she wasn't here to mollycoddle Stefan, she was here to get him on the wagon again.

"You really don't mince words do you Amélie Baudelaire?" Stefan questioned, allowing himself to laugh.

"Why should I? I'm eternally damned, if that doesn't mean that I can say whatever the hell I want when I want then nothing does Stefan. Now come along Stefan and don't worry if we do happen to stumble across a human I will get rid of them before you get a chance to jump them and take a huge bite of their jugular." Amélie quipped as she motioned for Stefan to get up off his feet and rather reluctantly he got up and slowly made his way out of the cell. Once Stefan had, Amélie passed him the glass of scotch that she was carrying. "Here, you look like you need this more than me not to mention it helps curb the blood lust."

"Thanks Ami."

Seeing that Stefan was slowly starting to act like himself again, Amélie led him out of the basement and soon enough the two of them were idly walking around in the woods. Amélie had no specific route in mind when she planned this little walk, she figured that her and Stefan would just walk and see wherever they would end up. Sometimes it was nice to not have a destination in mind, to just freely walk around and focus on the right now. Which currently seemed to be suiting Stefan as he looked marginally better but Amélie knew better than to take things at first appearance with Stefan Salvatore of all people. Stefan was one of the most complex people that she had ever come across and Amélie had met a lot of people.

"You know I really like Elena, I'm actually surprised about how much I like her as I expected to hate her on principal because she looks like Katherine but I don't. Elena seems to be the opposite of that vampire who broke yours and Damon's heart. Elena is sweet and she genuinely seems to care about you. I'm glad that you have found love again, it seems to suit you." Amélie noted as she strolled through the woods arm in arm with Stefan.

"What about you Ami? Do you have anyone special in your life?" Stefan questioned and Amélie quietly laughed.

"Yeah I have these four guys and they answer to the name of Jim, Jack, Johnnie and Jose."

"Seriously Ami…" Stefan prodded and Amélie figured that since Stefan was doing a good job and getting back to his old self, she would give him something to reward him for all his efforts.

"At one point I was in love with someone."

"Damon?" Stefan questioned and Amélie shook her head.

"No not Damon, whilst I love your brother I have never been in love with him but there has been someone. It was a long time ago but it didn't end well, the way the two of us loved each other things were never going to end well. We weren't star-crossed lovers but we were self destructive in a way that we just imploded when we were together. There was no man who could push my buttons the way he did, sometimes he would purposely rile me up because he found it attractive. We loved like no other and argued like no other either but I wouldn't have had it any other way..." Amélie allowed herself to admit as she thought back to that time, where she had fallen in love with a man who had drove her insane in more ways than one. He was a paradox inside an enigma. A gifted artist but at the same times the most sadistic person that Amélie had ever known. A cruel vampire with the face of an angel. And his name? Niklaus but he much preferred to be called Klaus.

* * *

Amélie stood shoulder to shoulder with Damon as they leaned against his car, she was taking a bit of a detour from her 'get Stefan back on the wagon' mission to help out Elena and Damon with something. It turns out that Elena's biological mother who Damon just so happened to turn into a vampire a couple of years ago had resurfaced in town threatening to go on a bloodbath unless she aw her daughter and went along way to make sure that happened. This wasn't exactly what Amélie figured she would be doing when she had arrived in Mystic Falls but she figured keeping Damon out of trouble was another thing to add to her to do list along with dealing with Stefan. So here was Amélie waiting outside with Damon as his 'backup' whilst Elena was inside the Grill with Stefan – who had been finally let out of his cell. But it didn't mean that Stefan was fixed as Amélie still had a lot of work to do with him. Amélie idly stood with Damon, neither of them saying anything just standing next to each other in a comfortable silence until a man with dirty blonde hair who looked in his early thirties made their way towards them.

'About time you got here Ric, for a second there I thought you weren't going to show up." Damon said talking to the man in front of them and Amélie just stood there and acted like she knew what was going on. Damon was still being a bit vague with the details so until Amélie knew what was going on fully she was just going to fake it until she made it.

"Drop the pretense Damon, you know I was going to show." The man who Amélie assumed was Ric replied before his eyes wondered over to Amélie. "Whose your friend? Another vampire I presume?"

"Ric meet Amélie Baudelaire and yes she is a vampire but also a lover, a mother, a sinner and a saint then at times a downright bitch." Damon said making the short introductions as the three of them walked across to the square to outside the Grill. "Ami this is Alaric Saltzman, by day a boring history teacher but by night a vampire hunter."

"Pleasure, so why is the history teacher with the secret life joining us?" Amélie questioned, directing the question at no one in particular. Things were getting weirder by each day Amélie was in Mystic Falls as she along with Damon were now hanging out with a vampire hunter. Normally Amélie and other vampires tended to stay as far away from vampire hunters as possible but that wasn't the norm in Mystic Falls, which didn't surprise her given how weird this town was.

"Um… about that Ami, I figured that I didn't have to tell you the finer details as I mentioned into in vague passing, or I thought I told you about the teacher who became a vampire hunter to kill me…" Damon began and Amélie rolled her eyes, yet again something that Damon hadn't told her was popping up.

"Isobel is my wife who I thought was dead up until recently until I discovered that Damon was carrying on an affair with her before proceeding to turn her into a vampire when I originally thought he had killed her." Alaric announced and Amélie turned to Damon with a bemused smile.

"Naughty boy Damon and I see it's another thing you neglected tell me about, makes me wonder what else I don't know Damon but I guess that's an upside to me staying in town." Amélie told Damon before turning her attention to Alaric. "So you're a vampire hunter whose wife is a vampire and threatening to chaos and mayhem and chaos unless she see's your daughter? Interesting…"

"Elena's not my daughter." Alaric quietly.

"We don't exactly know that tidbit of information, yet but we're hoping that the long lost wife may be able to provide some answers to that." Damon replied.

"Ah awkward." Amélie replied as she looked around, right now she could do with a drink and not the champagne that she had stored at the Salvatore's boarding house and not scotch, but something with a kick like tequila.

"I don't like this, we should be in there." Damon stated in an irritated manner.

"No, Isobel made it clear we're not to step a foot inside." Alaric replied in a rather firm manner and Amélie just let out a quiet sigh as she figured that this was going to be a rather long and quiet night. Not to mention she was stuck with two men who didn't seem to enjoy each other's company that much, and Amélie would admit that she could see why Ric had quite a problem with Damon.

"I'm not going to kill her in a crowd restaurant." Damon replied in a dramatic fashion.

"You're not going to kill her period!" Alaric retorted and his reaction piped Amélie's interest.

"Let me get this straight? This woman Isobel was your wife, had an affair with my best friend and then transitioned into a vampire and allowed you to believe she was dead. She ruined your life and you still want to protect her? Why?" Amélie questioned as she wouldn't have made all this effort for her husband, hell she had killed his mistress because she found out he was cheating on her.

."She's my wife." Alaric began which caused both Damon and Amélie to look at him given that he was still referring to said woman who effectively ruined his life as his wife. "_Was_ my wife. I looked for the woman I married but she wasn't there. Whoever that is, she's cold and detached."

"Yeah, she's given up her humanity." Damon summed up and Amélie nodded as that sounded just about right.

"Yeah, see, I don't get that. Stefan has his humanity, he's a good guy. And you're a dick Damon and you kill people but I still see something human in you. But with her there was… nothing. Isobel's just empty and void of anything…" Alaric wistfully said.

"You can turn it off, it's kind of like a button you can press. But it's complicated and different with vampires and it's a choice. Take Stefan, he wants the whole human experience. Damon would say something stupid like Stefan wants to feel every episode of How I Met Your Mother, so he shuts his feelings out. The problem is, as a vampire, your instinct is not to feel. Isobel chose the easier road — no guilt, no shame, no regret and that makes living for eternity that much easier. I mean, come on, if you could turn it off, wouldn't you? Never have to feel anything again, it's rather appealing…" Amélie explained.

"Damon hasn't." Alaric noted.

"Of course I have Rick. It's why I'm so fun to be around. " Damon scoffed in a sarcastic manner, which Amélie didn't believe for a second. She knew Damon pretty well and as much as he liked to pretend he didn't care, he did. It was just easier for him to pretend that he didn't.

"What about you Amélie? Have you switched it off?" Alaric questioned and Amélie just smirked.

"I'm not drunk enough to answer that question."


End file.
